97. CHARLES BUKOWSKI: Air and light and time and space

Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) was an American writer and poet. Despite the motivational element of this poem, Bukowski was definitely not an uplifting or inspirational writer. His work focused on the mundane and depraved aspects of society with employment, alcohol and sex featuring prominently.

After minor success in his mid-twenties, Bukowski quit writing and spent 10 years wandering the country, working crappy jobs and drinking a hell of a lot. After he blew out his ulcer from alcohol abuse, Bukowski took up writing again when he was 35 while continuing to work menial jobs. He finally quit his job as a postal clerk and became a full-time writer at the age of 49.

Bukowski definitely lived by the words of this particular poem – he’s had over 60 volumes of work published including thousands of poems and hundreds of stories and there continues to be new material of his published posthumously.

UPDATE (26th Nov 2013): Unfortunately I was asked to remove this comic by HarperCollins, Charles Bukowski’s publisher. It’s a shame, since it seemed to resonate with so many of you but I respect the decision.

Thanks for another awesome comic !
life has taught me the only thing needed for creation is embracing the question with your hearth. tools do not lead to creation as a super car does not make you a super driver 🙂

It makes me feel guilty because i’m trying, for the first time in my life, to set up my room and turning it into a very comfortably studio to start to make cartoons “for real”. I’m saving for a new computer, for a “light box”, and for a printer. But i dont want to end up like that guy! he he, i know i will not end up like that guy! if I see that i’m turning into something that idle, i will sell away everything and i will keep drawing with a couple of pens like i have always been doing. Hope not! ooooh gavin, thanks for make me think about my choices again! :'(

I don’t think it’s supposed to make anyone feel guilty about anything. Unless I’m mistaken [not knowing the original context of the Bukowski quote], it seems like its a reminder to always question yourself–your wants and desires and your goals. And to help you never forget that feeling that set you on that path.

I feel guilty too. I think there is something to be said for creating a workshop to work in. I work very differently than charles B. I work furiously in stints, and then take long breaks where I develop the next scene and setting for my next project. Even writers have a variety of methods of writing.

Bukowski is one of my favourite poets because he doesn’t blanket his thoughts into meandering words. It tells it to you like it is. Ugly. Painful. Often monotonous. Often breathtakingly simple. I was a little tentative when I saw you attempted to take up his poem, but thanks for a(nother) great comic. Wishing you a wonderful holiday! 🙂

I’m not sure if it’s part of the poem or not, but there’s a missing comma of address in the big blue “NO BABY” part of the poem. It should be “NO, BABY”. Otherwise you’re talking about a lack of babies, which in this context is actually quite confusing.

Well, thank you for this one.
Another motivational kick in the butt, however, I’m still gonna tidy my closet and my hard drive, it’s been bugging me forever.

But I know it’s not a prerequisite to get working, and thanks to this reminder I’ll keep working now and clean up in the breaks.
Kinda reminds me of the Oswald Chambers quote some time ago( #71).
Man, I just love the little warrior, so brave and fierce.

So, happy holidays everyone. I hope you can all be with your families.

And Gav, HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS TIME OFF WORK for the first time in like ever, I think everybody agrees you’ve worked hard and fought valiantly these first 10 months, you deserve it, thank you. I’ll be thinking about you for next two tuesdays checking the site and missing the comic^^.

As he’s my favorite writer, I’ve been waiting for a Bukowski for ages! Amazing work! I would love to request one for the future as well, a poem titled “So You Want to be a Writer”. When I was working a shitty job at a copy shop, I printed out the words to that poem on huge sheets of paper and hung them all over my apartment. Would be lovely to see them in print…

No baby,air and light and time and space have nothing to do with it.’
In India we had a freedom fighter who was held as a prisoner for a long time. He turned out to be a great poem- and one of the best poems he wrote was ‘shravanmaas’ that is ‘spring season’. He lived as if he were in an eternal dungeon, with all uncertainties but his poems speak otherwise of spectacular things a life can give us. Yes baby, it is true- air and light and time and space have nothing to do with it.

I have been buying lots of stuff over time, a good computer, mandatory large wacom tablet and so, but the truth is that it’s been a while since the last time I entered a design contest or created anything for no reason at all.

Man… You are really good (I’m not gonna say “Amazing” cause of the other day text) !! I’m Brazillian and a big fan of you..
And I know that you only use famous texts but it would be very nice if you use the spech of Captain Price of Call of Duty (“The healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking that it is this last day on earth…”)
But thats just an idea.. bye! o/

I’m Brazziilian and i love your site in general. But this particular comic hit me right in my ego. My dream always was and still is to be a succesful writer because i love reading exciting books and i wanted to be responsible for exciting other people too. But I’ve always procrastinated at least until now.

Man, I love Bukowski and I haven’t heard this before. You did a wonderful job illustrating this. Your illustrations really complement his words, and I really like the typography you used to emphasize certain phrases and sections. I can almost hear him speaking it to me.

And I love the message behind it, of course. I think that if you want to create, you’re going to make the time to do it even if you sacrifice sleep or relationships or whatever you have to. Having a nice room and the time for it certainly helps, but it’s not all you need to get things done. It’s nice to know Bukowski, and you, feel the same way!

Heh. Heinrich Karl Bukowski, is it? The guy was born less than 20 km from the place I was born and raised, and trust me when I say you don’t really expect this area to produce that many great authors. 😉

I really like this one. Picasso (I think it was him, anyway, though I can’t find a source) gave the complement to this one:

“If they take away my oils, I’ll use my pastels, if they take away my pastels, I’ll use my colouring pencils, and if they strip me down and stick me in a jail cell, I’ll spit on my finger and write on the wall. If that isn’t you, this job isn’t for you.”

Art will out, no matter what, and you can’t suppress it any more than you can force it when it’s not there in the first place.

I love this quote–distraction is a state of mind that the creative have to battle regardless of how conducive we make the external environment; the struggle always comes from within ourselves. Love your illustration and choice of quote!

Totally 1000% agree with this. No matter how busy or inconvenient one’s life or circumstances is a person never makes that an excuse to stop writing or creating visual representations of their imagination. Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles became famous despite being blind. Shakespeare is widely admired despite having no more than an elementary education. Inspiration and creativity is the gravity to art; it never stops existing.

Just what I needed to see. I constantly make excuses. Thinking that one day I’ll have the ideal circumstances to create something. I know it’s all bullshit though. Kicking myself up the arse as I speak.

I just started my “creations” again. I’ve been doing stream of consciousness writings with a starting point. Zenpencils are often helping me start though. I still love the “Buy the ticket. Take the ride” comic. This one also had me writing right after I read it, because even if I would like to have a nice studio apartment to live in I still want to be making my art and such. But this one scared me a bit. I really want to do video games and I haven’t even started yet. I don’t want to keep making excuses for why I can’t make them either. Gah, I really need to find a better place to gush dangit.

Wow. Wonderful site. I just discovered it and enjoying every one of these. This is great work and the messages really come to life. Great to see quotes I’ve read before take on a new and richer meaning!

Wow. Wonderful site. Just discovered it and enjoying every one of these. This is great work and the messages really come to life. Great to see quotes I’ve read before take on a new, and richer, meaning!

Hi!
I just wanted to write a message of appreciation towards your spectacular comic strips. 🙂
You have no idea how much you have inspired me to work harder in life so I too can grow up to work on something I love.
Thank you 🙂

I’m actually using this quote as part of my New Year’s Resolution pact (“The Year of No Excuses”). You should definitely put this up as a print (even if it’s a two part print), because I would buy at least two since my pact partner is moving to Ohio soon and we would both need the extra inspiration.

I love your interpretation of the quote here. Often I’ve found myself doing the same thing, waiting for the “right” moment, or place, or time, or purchase to get back into the creative flow. Its all excuses and procrastination in the end. The last frame struck a nerve with me and is exactly why I read your comics – the creativity and inspiration you channel through them.

I create whenever and wherever. However I did find more time to create once I had alienated myself from my friends, kicked out the girlfriend and my family emigrated. Ok now I write sad songs and melancholy poems but loads of them.
My pool, darts and football is better too!

After more than 25 years, my husband left. He said, “I can’t take it anymore. You are holding me back,” as he left me and the three children, the oldest disabled with a potentially fatal condition. He said he couldn’t concentrate on his art or his writing and needed his freedom to be able to do so. About a year later, I asked him how his artwork and his writing were coming along. He said he hadn’t had the inspiration. I told him, an artist is an artist is and artist no matter what. It’s either in the blood and you must create, or it just isn’t there.

I’m not sure i’m 100% with this one. I get the message and agree with that part – you can create anywhere, but it’s a bit damming to say if you’ve freed time to concentrate on your passion you’ll smash beers all day.

My animation has got to a point where i have no choice to put off uni for a year – mid course – to be able to focus on it.

I can’t split my energies on 2 things, i’m totally single minded. I put everything into one thing at a time. I can’t do 5 hours of this, then jump into 5 hours of something else. I was literally failing my degree because of my animation. And the animation was becoming poor because of the degree.

I think take this message with a pinch of salt. Maybe get creating, whatever it is, and focus on that. even with a job. and then if you can get to a point where you need to focus take it.

And just to add, i’ve none many talented individuals come from uni and become totally consumed in the draining aspects of 9-5. 5 years on they’ve forgotten what it was.

But maybe the point is, don’t put off creating, don’t make excuses. Just do it. don’t let the fear get you.

Thanks man, I was just thinking about selling my house and leaving my girlfriend to go back in an apartment and “create”… Why not now? I don’t want to promote any brand but I think “Just do it” is the way to go!

I currently have that house and that space and I create… not the same stuff as when I’m stuck at school, but I don’t feel as guilty creating.

I dunno.

It’s like I get “stuck”, but if I were in school, it would be “Oh GOOD! You’re STUCK!! Now you can do your !@#$ homework like you’re supposed to and be normal!” not “Oh, I’m stuck… why am I stuck… Oh. This book is a different !#$!@#$ book than the one I meant to write. Oh.”

I got another 2000 word chapter out on a book yesterday doing the second one.

No, this is BS. You are not going to create when you are on wefare and you and your 3 kids sleep in one room. You arent going to create when stuff is blowing up all around you and chaos reigns. In fact the funny thing is, we never actually DO know when we will create. But one thing I know for sure, the person with the most pleasing, nurturing atmosphere(to him,anyway) has a 5X greater chance than say a kid holed up in his apt who hasnt been out in 3 days because drive -bys keep happening. People arent going to create when they hear their alcoholic father yelling or beating their mom. And if you do create under awful ,stressed situations like that, its a waste anyway as what joy is there in doing it? This guy sounds like he is out to lunch to me. Either that, or he is justifying not giving himself the environment he needed.

On the other hand, those who wait till they have the perfect environment, rarely create either. Because by the time they get that perfect environment, they are too burned out from making the environment to create much of anything anymore!

i love this one a lot, and i forgot to save it so in a moment i decided to open every single pics in order to find this one, i am glad it was not #4 otherwise it would had taking me forever, and it’s good that my internet was not slow too. anyway please let me know when you have this one available for sale, i would love to have it 🙂 and keep up with the fun 🙂 also do you do any private request?

This is the thing, I have never had trouble just sitting and writing. My problem has always been writing something worthy of someone else reading. I suppose I am self-conscious about what others might think about what I write, ( critics ). Maybe one day I’ll just let it all go, just put it out there for posterity.

I disagree with every person who thinks there is untruth to this comic. What Chuck was trying to say, is that if you are a true artist, with an uncontrollable desire to create, you will find a way to make art, no matter how bad things are. Or how little time you might have. Chuck is urging artist NOT to wait until their life is in order. If you have something inside of you, that you need to express, the best time to do it is right now.

I’m a delivery driver. I work more hours than is probably healthy. I have a wife and kids. In short I have very little free time.

I’m also a song writer. I don’t get to lounge around for hours a day in a studio and work on my songs. I get a half hour a day. It’s my lunch break. But if I didn’t use that tiny bit of time to get my art out, my head might explode. That’s what Chuck is talking about.

I dunno… I mean, this has some merit to it, but it is also kind of reductive of people who are living in crummy situations.
How many great novels actually came out of coal mines or from victims in the crossfire of a war zone? Some, yeah… but not that many. Not that many in comparison to what came from wealthy, subsidized folk who had no other responsibilities other than to create.
To say that the only reason a mother of 3 on welfare DOESN’T create fantastic works of art is just because it isn’t in her and that she doesn’t really want to do it is VERY problematic. I’ve known plenty of people who were forced to give up on their art because life’s responsibilities became too great and too numerous. These people had great potential, and if they were living in a different situation, they could have totally focused that energy on finishing their masterpieces. To write them off and simply say they didn’t have the conviction or the follow-through to truly BE an artist is really demeaning.

Knave, just consider that Bukowski wrote his poetry under very poor living conditions and it was exactly that life which inspired his art. Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club while working in a garage, sneaking passages into a notebook while working under vehicles. J.K. Rowling was a single mother on welfare when she created Harry Potter, subsidized, but hardly wealthy.

Sure, there are plenty of people in this world who get a bad shake and can’t turn things around. They may never create a great work of art but very very few people ever do. Bukowski isn’t saying anyone in any situation can create great art, he’s saying if you are going to create, you can’t help but do it. He is speaking from the experience of being a prolific writer under poor conditions and the fact that when he finally did buy the studio he wanted, he realized it didn’t matter because the space to create is inside the individual.

Try sharing this poem with some of those folks and see what they think! Maybe it will be a comfort and inspiration to them. You never know. They may not go on to fame and fortune, but maybe it will encourage them to find a way to make their art.

Great work with this comic. Bukowski keeps inspiring people and that is one of the criteria of being a great artist.
I have also stumbled on this work on his poems with musichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKfS8QwOjKo

AGH, HOW UNFORTUNATE!
Whenever a spark of inspiration occurs and I remember an image from one of your quotes (or remember inspiring words from your illustrations), I come back and refer to the work that you did. It’s sad to see this one go…
No worries, Aung. Keep doing what you do!

I restored this comic on my website. It’s one of my favorite ZP comics, and I adore the message and artwork in it (I may even get it printed and framed when I have some extra scratch). So, click my name if you’d like to see see it.

Wow. Wonderful site. Just discovered it and enjoying every one of these. This is great work and the messages really come to life. Great to see quotes I’ve read before take on a new, and richer, meaning!

You know what your trouble is?… You’re the kind who always reads the handbook. Anything people build, any kind of technology, it’s going to have some specific purpose. It’s for doing something that somebody already understands. But if it’s new technology, it’ll open areas nobody’s ever thought of before. You read the manual, man, and you won’t play around with it, not the same way. And you get all funny when somebody else uses it to do something you never thought of.

But if it’s new technology, it’ll open areas nobody’s ever thought of before. You read the manual, man, and you won’t play around with it, not the same way. And you get all funny when somebody else uses it to do something you never thought of.

otally 1000% agree with this. No matter how busy or inconvenient one’s life or circumstances is a person never makes that an excuse to stop writing or creating visual representations of their imagination. Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles became famous http://www.tildee.com/ZOpXqg